The Obama administration today approved the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for a waiver from No Child Left Behind (NCLB), in exchange for locally-developed plans to prepare all students for college and career, focus aid on the neediest students, and support effective teaching and leadership.

Since fall 2011, 45 states, D.C., Puerto Rico and the Bureau of Indian Education have requested waivers from NCLB in order to implement next-generation education reforms that go far beyond the law's rigid, top-down prescriptions. The Education Department has now approved requests from 42 states Puerto Rico and D.C., with other applications still pending.

"Forty two states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia can't wait any longer for education reform” said U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. "A strong, bipartisan reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act remains the best path forward in education reform, but as these states have demonstrated, our kids can't wait any longer for Congress to act."

Federal education law has been due for Congressional reauthorization since 2007. In the face of Congressional inaction, President Obama announced in September 2011 that the administration would grant waivers from NCLB to qualified states.

The three states, plus the Bureau of Indian Education, with outstanding requests for waivers include: Illinois, Iowa and Wyoming.

The five states that have not yet requested flexibility include: California, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota (request withdrawn), and Vermont (request withdrawn). The Department approved a separate request for waivers from the CORE districts in California.